Horneca, Fizeaux & Co. to Benjamin Franklin: A Translation

[dateline] Amsterdam, 24 December 1778

[salute] Gentlemen

It was not until the 15th that we received the letter that you honored us with of
the 6th instant.1 We have precisely informed Sir Grand, currently in Paris, of that which is relative
to the placement of the promissory notes of the United States of America. He undoubtedly
will also have told you that all we have been able to place up to now is 51, but we
do not doubt that with a little patience we will succeed, little by little, in placing
the rest and then be able to proceed to some important business. For this it is necessary
to establish and maintain the credit of these notes, and for that it is necessary
to proceed with circumspection and reserve. By trying to force these things we would
only be taking a step back, thereby jeopardizing the future. We beseech you, gentlemen,
to trust above all in our zeal and our attention to the success of the project, and
to be persuaded that the interests that you were kind enough to confide to us occupy
and engage us as much as our own.

We will await the orders that you will judge appropriate, and to which we will conform,
for the disposition of your funds in our hands.

We are with respectful devotion, gentlemen, your very humble and very obedient servants

1. In that letter (LbC, Adams Papers) the Commissioners noted that they had received no “intelligence” concerning the
progress of the loan and asked for news so that they could inform their “Constituents,
and regulate our Conduct in other Things.”